Coupon system for commodities



June 19, 1923. 1,459,423

A. G. UPTE'GRAFF .COUPON SYSTEM FOR COMMODITIES Filed April '7, 1921 @n 4 J" 2 f 4' PRnsERvrTms Coupon ro L SHQ LIJABLEPFEWl mh* PREEm/ THIS COUPON To SECURE VALUABUE DREMIUMS.

' wriefor Qur premium list.l

THE ABC. PAPER Co.

Mdm

Patented .lune i9, lgga l usaran stares ALEXANDER G. UPTEGRAFF, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

COUPON SYSTEM FOR COIVIBTOIDITIES.

Application led April 7,

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that ALEXANDER G. PTE- GRAFF, a citizen of the United States, and resident of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Coupon System-s for Commodities` of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates primarily `to premium distribution systems for encouraging sales, and is particularly concerned with modifications in the construction of certain common commodities to render them readily adaptable to the execution of such systems.

As conducive to a clear understanding of the invention, it may be noted, that it has been the common practice for manufacturers to issue coupons for distribution by retailers to their customers, such coupons to be redeemed ,for premiums at an office of the manufacturer. rlhis practice has been followed, for instance, in the retail distribution of soaps, cereals and other household com# modities sold in packages or wrappers, of which the coupon forms a part or in which the coupon is enclosed. In these cases the retailer is, of course, spared the annoyance of having to select and hand the coupons to the cust-omers. This convenience is lacking, however, for instance, in the Vsale of cigars in bulk and it has been the practice, more particularly in the case of chain retail cigar stores, to distribute a separate coupon or coupons with each sale.

ln the case of unwrapped or unpacked.- commodities sold by jobbers to contractors rather than by retail stores to the ultimate consumer, it is as nnfeasible as inthe sale of cigars in bulk to attach or enclose cou-- pons, but unlike the retailer of cigars, the jobbing distributor has not the sales or clerical force to bother with the special distribution of coupons.v

My invention provides a' solution of the problem of assuring the distribution of one or more premium coupons with sales of unwrapped7 uncovered commodities, and this, without the least burden upon the seller and without even requiring any attention on his art. 1 p The invention relates primarily to wall paper although it may be applied to other material of the type provided with aselvage, border or rim intended to be severed or re* 1921. serial No. 459,236.

moved when t-he material is applied to its normal use, and regardless whether vsold in rolls, bolts orotherwise.

Wall paper is ordinarily sold in rolls formedv with selvages approximately onehalf inch in width at the opposite edges thereof, these selvages serving` to protect the edge of the wal-l paper proper against the wear and tear suffered by the ends of the' roll inthe ordinary course of `storing and shipping; These selvages are cut off by the paper hanger prior to applying 4the paper to the wall. y

According to one feature of the invention, I Vform a short portion ofthe length ofone of the selvages as a coupon, bearing appropriate printedindications of redemption value. 4In the preferred embodiment, the

coupon wouldbe `of the same width as the selvage, and there may be lines of perforation or other weakened lines connectingthe endsrof the coupon to the adjacent portion of the selvage. Preferably the coupons are formed at uniform intervals along the length of the selvage, the number of coupons upon any particular roll of paper, preferably varying directly with the premium value of the roll. y

My system not only tends to promote sales in the manner of premium systems generally, but affords to the manufacturer/of wall paper or similar commodities, a convenient opportunity of determining who are the purchasers from each of his distributing stations and in what quantities. To carry out the latter specific object, each coupon is preferably formed with some distinctive mark of the manufacturer designating the jobber or distributor to whom theroll was voriginally consigned. This mark means nothing to the ultimate purchaser or user of the paper Aand the confusion is avoided whichwould result from placing both the name of the manufacturer and of t'he distributor upon vthe cou von. l In the accompanying drawings wherein is shown one of various possible embodiments of the several featuresof the invention,

Fig. l is a fragmentary viewsubstantially full scale of an edge portion of wall paper', revealing one ofthe selvages and one of the coupons, Fig. 2 is a plan View on an enlargedscale of one of the coupons, and,

Fig. 3 is a perspective view on a greatly reduced scale of a roll of paper, illustrating the position of the coupons,

Referring now to the drawings, a roll 1 of wall paper is shown in Fig. 3 having at. its opposite edges the usual selvages 2 forming an integral part of the paper, each Aselvage about one-half inch in width, Awhich serve to protect the edge of the wall paper proper against injury in the course of handling, storage and transportation. At predetermined intervals along the length of bears printed matter of the one of the selvages, or if desired of both, kare formed coupons 3. Preferably identical coupons are formed on the selvages regardless of the quality or price of the paper, the intervals between'coupons preferably varying inversely with the sellingprice or with the premium value of the roll. Each coupon preferably extends the width of the selvage and is connected by weakened lines, such as lines of perforation 4 to the adjacent portion of the selvage length, the inner edge 5 o f the coupon being` continuous with the wall paper proper in the `same manner as the main length of selvage. The coupon character usually on premium coupons indicating that it has a value in effecting exchange for premiums and giving such further information as to manner of redemption as is necessary or desirable. Each coupon, moreover,A is providedwith some private mark, such as a triangle 6, preferably a perforation, indieating according to a private code of the manufacturer, to which the distributor or jobber of the roll bearing the coupon was the roll by being frictionally held between4 originally consigned.

It will be seen that the coupons, in effect, constitute portions of the selvage and these coupons perform the protective function that the portions of the selvage length that they occupy would normally perform were the selvage made continuous. The edge of the wall paper corresponding to-the length of the coupon is thus amply protected. Moreover, the coupons themselves are protected against destruction or severing from the adj oining convolutions of the wall paper, and are readily severed from the paper immediately before application to the wall,

- and this without damage to the wall paper proper.

lt will be seen that the jobber or distributor who sells the wall paper by the roll does not have to concern himself in any way with separate coupons and, in effect, he would not even have to know that the wall paper is provided with coupons, and this although the roll is ordinarily sold unwrapped and uncovered.

The contractor who purchases the wall paper from the jobber would either remove the coupons himself prior to allowing the direct his paper hangers to sever the cou-' pons as they cut off the selvages.

In the operation of the system, the manufacturer can determine from inspection of the private marks on the coupons returned to him in quantities for redemption, to what extent the various jobbers or distributors are disposing of his products and will have valuable information on which to base sales policy. y

It will be understood that the formation of one or both of the selvages with coupons can easily be effected concurrently with the printing of the paper, the end of the printing roller being simply provided with the requisite setting of type for printing the coupons, and with points for making the lines of perforation. n Y

The invention is not limited in its application to wall paper but may be applied to any of a wide variety of commodities of the type kept in stock by retailers in relatively large pieces from which sections of any magnitude specified by a purchaser are to be severed, and in its application, it will be seen that the result is achieved without any special effort or knowledge on the part of the retailer, of handing thepur- Chaser as an integral part with the commodity, a number of coupons representing an aggregate value proportional to the value card quantity of the commodity purchased.

1. A roll of wall paper or the like having a selvagel to be removed when the paper is to be used, said selvage being formed at intervals with integral coupons, each coupon extending substantiallyv the entire width of the selvage and being connected to the adjoining portions of the selvage by weakened areas, said coupons bearing indications of exchange value, whereby the p0rtionsof the selvage formed as couponswill be effective to protect the corresponding nortionof the wall paper edge, and where.- bv the coupon will be protected by the adjacent turns of the roll, thereby leaving the coupons intact to be severed and returned to the manufacturer by the contractor or other user. f

2. A roll of wall paper or the like having a selvage to be removed when the paper is to be used. said selvage being formed at intervals with integral coupons, each coupon extending substantially the entire width of the selvage and being connected to the adjoining portions of the selvage by weakened lines, said coupons bearing the name and address of the manufacturer, and a private code mark of the manufacturer representing the name of the jobber or distributor. l

3. .A commodity 0f the typekept in stock by retailers in relatively large pieces from which sections of any magnitude specied by 4a purchaser are to be severed, i-n Which coupons of identical value are provided upon the commodity at definite intervals so that the purchaser will acquire with each purchase a number of coupons representing an aggregate value proportional to the quantity of the commodity purchased.

4L. A commodity of the type kept in stock in rolls, bolts or the like and intended for sale in lots of less than a complete roll, in Which coupons are Vformed integrally there- With but readily detachable therefrom and at definite uniform intervals thereon, so that with each purchase there will automatically be dispensed a number of coupons proportional to the length of the goods sold, and in Which said coupons arereadily detachable from thearticle without destroying or injuring either the `coupon or the ar-l ticle.

31st day of March, A. D. 1921.

ALEXANDER e. UPTEGRAFF.

Signed at New York in the county of New York and State of New York, this 

